Exodus 4:21

And the Lord said unto Moses,.... At the same time he appeared to him in Midian, and ordered him to go into Egypt, even before his departure thither: when thou goest to return into Egypt; and when

And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

In thine hand, i.e. in thy power or commission, to be clone by thy hand, and the rod in it. I will harden his heart, that he shall he unmerciful to all the groans and pressures of the Israelites, inexorable to the requests of Moses, unmovable and incorrigible by all my words and works. But God doth not properly and positively make men’ s hearts hard, but only privatively, either by denying to them, or withdrawing from them, that grace which alone can make men soft, and flexible, and pliable to the Divine will; as the sun hardens the clay by drawing out of it that moisture which made it soft; or by exposing them to those temptations of the world or the devil, which, meeting with a corrupt heart, are apt to harden it.

Exodus 4:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.Ver. 21. But I will harden his heart.] With a judiciary penal hardness. And thus God is in this book eight times said to have hardened Pharaoh’ s heart: thrice it is said that he hardened his own heart, and five times his heart is said to have been hardened - viz., by the devil, through the just judgment of God.

(21) All those wonders.—Not the “three signs” of Exodus 3:3-9, but the “portents” or “wonders “which were to be done before Pharaoh, and which had been alluded to in Exodus 3:20. These were, in the counsel of God, already “put into Moses’ hand,” though their exact nature was as yet unknown to Moses himself. I will harden his heart.—The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart has been the subject of much controversy. It is ascribed to God in this place, and again in Exodus 7:3; Exodus 9:12; Exodus 10:1; Exodus 10:20; Exodus 10:27; Exodus 14:4; Exodus 14:8; to Pharaoh in Exodus 8:15; Exodus 8:32; and Exodus 9:34; to the action of the heart itself in Exodus 7:13; Exodus 7:22; Exodus 9:7; Exodus 9:35. It is conceivable that these may be simply three forms of speech, and that the actual operation was one and the same in every case. Or, three different modes of operation may be meant. It is in favour of the latter view, that each term has a period during which it is predominant. In the narrative of what happened, the action of the heart is itself predominant in the first period; that of Pharaoh on his heart in the second; that of God in the third. We may suppose that, at first, Pharaoh’s nature was simply not impressed, and that then his heart is said to have “hardened itself,” or “remained hard;” that after a while, he began to be impressed; but by an effort of his will controlled himself, and determined that he would not yield: thus “hardening his own heart;” finally, that after he had done this twice (Exodus 8:15; Exodus 8:32), God stepped in and “smote him with a spirit of blindness and infatuation,” as a judgment upon him (Exodus 9:12), thus, finally, “hardening” him (comp. Romans 9:18). This divine action was repeated, on three subsequent occasions (Exodus 10:20; Exodus 10:27; Exodus 14:8), Pharaoh’s time of probation being past, and God using him as a mere means of showing forth His glory. There is nothing in this contrary to the general teaching of the Scriptures, or to the Divine Perfection.

Verse 21. But I will harden his heart] The case of Pharaoh has given rise to many fierce controversies, and to several strange and conflicting opinions. Would men but look at the whole account without the medium of their respective creeds, they would find little difficulty to apprehend the truth. If we take up the subject in a theological point of view, all sober Christians will allow the truth of this proposition of St. Augustine, when the subject in question is a person who has hardened his own heart by frequently resisting the grace and spirit of God: Non obdurat Deus impertiendo malitiam, sed non impertiendo misericordiam; Epist. 194, ad Sixtum, "God does not harden men by infusing malice into them, but by not imparting mercy to them." And this other will be as readily credited: Non operatur Deus in homine ipsam duritiam cordis; sed indurare eum dicitur quem mollire noluerit, sic etiam excaecare quem illuminare noluerit, et repellere eum quem noluerit vocare. "God does not work this hardness of heart in man; but he may be said to harden him whom he refuses to soften, to blind him whom he refuses to enlighten, and to repel him whom he refuses to call." It is but just and right that he should withhold those graces which he had repeatedly offered, and which the sinner had despised and rejected. Thus much for the general principle. The verb חזק chazak, which we translate harden, literally signifies to strengthen, confirm, make bold or courageous; and is often used in the sacred writings to excite to duty, perseverance, c., and is placed by the Jews at the end of most books in the Bible as an exhortation to the reader to take courage, and proceed with his reading and with the obedience it requires. It constitutes an essential part of the exhortation of God to Joshua, Joshua 1:7: Only be thou STRONG, רק חזק rak chazak. And of Joshua's dying exhortation to the people, Joshua 23:6: Be ye therefore VERY COURAGEOUS, וחזקתם vachazaktem, to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law. Now it would he very strange in these places to translate the word harden: Only be thou hard, Be ye therefore very hard and yet if we use the word hardy, it would suit the sense and context perfectly well: Only be thou HARDY; Be ye therefore very HARDY. Now suppose we apply the word in this way to Pharaoh, the sense would be good, and the justice of God equally conspicuous. I will make his heart hardy, bold, daring, presumptuous; for the same principle acting against God's order is presumption, which when acting according to it is undaunted courage. It is true that the verb קשה kashah is used, Exodus 7:3, which signifies to render stiff, tough, or stubborn, but it amounts to nearly the same meaning with the above.

17–21. Here vv. 17–18, 20b–21 are assigned to E on account of their imperfect connexion with the context: Exodus 4:17 speaks of ‘the signs’ to be done with the rod, whereas only one sign to be performed with it has been enjoined in vv. 1–9; Exodus 4:21 mentions ‘portents’ to be done before the Pharaoh, whereas vv. 1–9 speak only of wonders to be wrought for the satisfaction of the people. Further, v. 19, from its contents, is not fitted to be the sequel of v. 18; it in fact states an alternative ground for Moses’ return into Egypt; and the name Jether (Jethro) makes it probable that v. 18 belongs to the same current of narrative as Exodus 3:1 and ch. 18 (i.e. E); hence v. 19 will be referred to J. V. 20b goes naturally with v. 17 (the rod). 17 (E). this rod, &c.] Not the rod of vv. 2–4 (with which only one sign was to be wrought), but the rod often mentioned in E as borne by Moses (v. 20b, Exodus 7:15; Exodus 7:17; Exodus 7:20, Exodus 9:23, Exodus 10:13, Exodus 14:16, Exodus 17:5; Exodus 17:9). In a previous part of E, which has not been preserved, it must have been told how Moses was equipped with a wonder-working rod, and what ‘the signs’ were which he was to perform with it before Pharaoh (so Di.).

I will harden - Calamities which do not subdue the heart harden it. In the case of Pharaoh, the hardening was at once a righteous judgment, and a natural result of a long series of oppressions and cruelties.

21. I will harden his heart — Lest Moses should be despondent in his long conflict with Pharaoh’s obstinate disobedience, he is now assured that this also has been fully foreseen and provided for by